StopTech big brake upgrade - F30 328i

A few months ago, StopTech released a big brake upgrade for the F30 335i. This new kit is specific to the F30 328i, with slightly smaller caliper piston sizing for proper brake balance and a smaller diameter parking brake drum than the 335i kit. This is the world's first installation of the new 328i kit. (Well - it's the first permanent installation. Obviously the test car StopTech used had one installed briefly, but it's now back to stock.)

I had planned the 4-wheel upgrade on my 2012 BMW 328i Luxury Line this Saturday, with some friends coming over to "help" (meaning hang out and talk cars), followed by a parade over to Panevino Restaurant in Livingston, NJ for lunch. But the pressure of the incoming hurricane, plus the sexy StopTech boxes in my garage combined to make delay of gratification virtually impossible. So I installed the front kit last night. It was probably the easiest installation I've ever done.

The rear kit installation is still scheduled for tomorrow morning in Maplewood, so the "brake-fest" is still on!

If you're on Facebook, here's a link directly to the photo album, which gets you higher resolution shots, if you want: 328i Installation Album

Otherwise ...

Lifting the car just high enough to get the front wheels off easily.

After spreading the front brake parts out on my workbench, it was too hard to resist installing them. I grabbbed a set of Centric Posi Quiet Ceramic brake pads from our warehouse, since I do not plan on tracking this car. That's what the Corvette (with StopTech Trophy brakes!) is for. These Posi Quiet pads will be less dusty and smoother than the standard StopTech Street Performance pads.

Front wheels off and brake fluid reservoir is exposed - a plastic panel with several quarter-turn quick-release fasteners. Much easier access than past BMW models, like the E39 5-Series and E90 3-Series.

The puny stock front brakes. That's a single-piston floating caliper.

I'm really loving this new garage and the mid-rise lift. It makes tire changes and brake work so much easier and faster.

First step is to disconnect the stock brake line and snap a rubber cap over the end, to keep fluid from draining out. Then pull the pad wear sensor, remove the 6mm rotor retaining screw from the hub, and remove the two 18mm bolts holding the caliper in place.

The new StopTech 355x32mm floating race rotor is installed, held in place by the stock 6mm rotor retaining screw.

The StopTech ST-60 6-piston caliper slides over the twin mounting studs and is retained by two 1/2" Jet nuts, torqued to 40 lb-ft.

Centric Posi Quiet Ceramic pads drop right in from above.

The caliper stiffening bridge also holds the pad retaining springs. Four bridge bolts keep it in place. It's a good idea to coat the bridge bolts along their entire length with Permatex Anti-Seize paste, to make it easy to remove them later. This is especially important if you race or if you drive on roads covered with snow-melting salt and chemicals.

Time to bleed the brakes. Thanks for working the pedal, Maria! :-)

All done with the driver's side!

Wheel back in place and on to the passenger side installation.

A comparison of the factory front rotor thickness with the StopTech floating rotors. Although they are substantially larger, the StopTech floating rotors are several pounds lighter. I'll weigh the stock parts tonight and follow up shortly with a comparison of stock vs StopTech components.

Another comparison, this time of rotor diameter.

The StopTech 6-piston caliper is much more impressive than the BMW factory 1-piston caliper. It's also dramatically stiffer, meaning the pedal feel will be much better.

All done! Start to finish was less than 2 hours. It would have been faster if I wasn't taking photos, stopping in the middle of the install for dinner, and having to spend time coaxing Maria downstairs to push the pedal when it was time to bleed the brakes!

Stay tuned for the rear brake installation on Saturday. I promise not to install them tonight! ;-)

They easily clear the stock 18" Luxury Line wheels and I'm pretty sure they'll also clear the 18" Sport Line wheels. Haven't looked at 17" wheels yet, but I may dig around a bit if I decide to install dedicated winter wheels.

DZeckhausen commented: November 9, 2012, 3:35 pm

I installed the rear BBK just before Hurricane Sandy hit, so I didn't get a chance to put up the photos until now. We only just got power at my house 2 days ago and power was restored Zeckhausen Racing on Monday. What a nightmare.

Part 2 of the StopTech 4-wheel big brake upgrade on the BMW F30 328i. Front brakes were installed Thursday night (Oct 25) and now (Oct 27) it's time to do the rears. These are 4-piston ST-40 calipers with 345x28mm rotors.

The garage is ready to go - all the leaves swept out.

All my "assistants" have arrived. It's been years since Mike Mario, Doug Holcomb, and Mike Turner have been in my garage at the same time. Feels like the good old days!

The car is up and the wheels off.

Rear brakes are tiny, with 1-piston calipers and drum-in-hat design rotors. That means the parking brake is inside the center portion of the brake rotor. The StopTech upgrade will preserve the parking brake function.

Side-by-side comparison of the original and StopTech rear calipers and rotors.

Time to pull off the stock brakes.

First out is the electronic pad wear sensor. Have to carefully wiggle this thing out with needle nose pliers. If you squeeze too hard, it crumbles and a pad warning appears on the dash.

The brake line is disconnected with an 11mm flare wrench and now the two 16mm bolts holding the caliper have to be removed. There is ZERO room to operate, so I have to use a box end wrench and a hammer to slowly work out the bolts. BMW puts thread locking compound on them, so they fought me every step of the way. Strangely, they did not do this for the front brake caliper bolts.

Caliper is finally off. 6mm rotor retaining screw is removed from the hub and a few strikes of the dead-blow hammer and the rotor comes right off. Make sure the parking brake is released, or else the rotor will not budge.

With the rotor removed, you can see the parking brake mechanism. Two mechanically operated brake shoes push outward against the drum which is built in to the stock rear rotor.

To make room for the larger caliper, we need to snip two triangular chunks from the stock dust shield.

The StopTech rotor is much thicker and will rub on the lip of the dust shield, unless we snip it off. These days, BMW uses really flimsy sheet metal for the dust shields, so it's easy to remove with tin snips. For older BMW models, a high-speed rotary tool is preferred.

Dust shield is all trimmed and the StopTech caliper mounting bracket is installed using the stock brake caliper bolts, torqued to 55 lb-ft.

The StopTech rotor is installed and held in position with the stock 6mm rotor retaining screw. A little bit of Permatex anti-seize is a good idea to make it easier to remove, a couple years from now.

The new 4-piston caliper slips onto the bracket's mounting studs. It's held in place with a pair of 1/2" Jet nuts, torqued to 40-45 lb-ft.

Brake pads drop right in from above. Make sure the proper side faces the rotor! I've had a few customers install these backwards. (No, I promise I won't tell anyone who did this!)

The caliper stiffening bridge is held in place with a pair of 5mm bridge bolts.

The new stainless steel braided brake line is threaded into the caliper body, then connected to the chassis fitting and tightened with an 11mm flare wrench.

The stock BMW pad wear sensor fits right into a slot at the top of the new brake pad.

The brakes are bled and wheels re-installed.

We're all done! Time to button up the car, pick up the tools, and then go celebrate our success.

A relaxing lunch at Panevino Restaurant - the traditional Zeckhausen Racing post-installation hangout. They had our table waiting for us and proper beverages all laid out in advance! Yes, we've been eating here regularly for over 20 years . A great way to celebrate another big brake installation.

namelessman commented: November 9, 2012, 7:29 pm

DaveZ, did u get a good trade for your E39? F30 is a perfect upgrade to E39. The F10 is too bloated for E39 owners IMO, and without active steering and dynamic handling package, F10 feels more like a E38 than a E39.

Jamesonsviggen commented: November 10, 2012, 10:42 am

Those sure do look nice.

I am working on a wheel sponsor so I have proper wheels(BBS is my first choice), would also love to line up a BBK sponsor too. I plan on showing my car all over the tri-state area so I need the proper setup.

woodswatchco commented: November 10, 2012, 11:01 am

What an awesome garage! So cool your friends came over to help. I wish I lived in Jersey to hang out too. Awesome brakes. I'll bet they throw you through the windshield if you're not careful!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

I installed the rear BBK just before Hurricane Sandy hit, so I didn't get a chance to put up the photos until now. We only just got power at my house 2 days ago and power was restored Zeckhausen Racing on Monday. What a nightmare.

Part 2 of the StopTech 4-wheel big brake upgrade on the BMW F30 328i. Front brakes were installed Thursday night (Oct 25) and now (Oct 27) it's time to do the rears. These are 4-piston ST-40 calipers with 345x28mm rotors.

The garage is ready to go - all the leaves swept out.

All my "assistants" have arrived. It's been years since Mike Mario, Doug Holcomb, and Mike Turner have been in my garage at the same time. Feels like the good old days!

The car is up and the wheels off.

Rear brakes are tiny, with 1-piston calipers and drum-in-hat design rotors. That means the parking brake is inside the center portion of the brake rotor. The StopTech upgrade will preserve the parking brake function.

Side-by-side comparison of the original and StopTech rear calipers and rotors.

Time to pull off the stock brakes.

First out is the electronic pad wear sensor. Have to carefully wiggle this thing out with needle nose pliers. If you squeeze too hard, it crumbles and a pad warning appears on the dash.

The brake line is disconnected with an 11mm flare wrench and now the two 16mm bolts holding the caliper have to be removed. There is ZERO room to operate, so I have to use a box end wrench and a hammer to slowly work out the bolts. BMW puts thread locking compound on them, so they fought me every step of the way. Strangely, they did not do this for the front brake caliper bolts.

Caliper is finally off. 6mm rotor retaining screw is removed from the hub and a few strikes of the dead-blow hammer and the rotor comes right off. Make sure the parking brake is released, or else the rotor will not budge.

With the rotor removed, you can see the parking brake mechanism. Two mechanically operated brake shoes push outward against the drum which is built in to the stock rear rotor.

To make room for the larger caliper, we need to snip two triangular chunks from the stock dust shield.

The StopTech rotor is much thicker and will rub on the lip of the dust shield, unless we snip it off. These days, BMW uses really flimsy sheet metal for the dust shields, so it's easy to remove with tin snips. For older BMW models, a high-speed rotary tool is preferred.

Dust shield is all trimmed and the StopTech caliper mounting bracket is installed using the stock brake caliper bolts, torqued to 55 lb-ft.

The StopTech rotor is installed and held in position with the stock 6mm rotor retaining screw. A little bit of Permatex anti-seize is a good idea to make it easier to remove, a couple years from now.

The new 4-piston caliper slips onto the bracket's mounting studs. It's held in place with a pair of 1/2" Jet nuts, torqued to 40-45 lb-ft.

Brake pads drop right in from above. Make sure the proper side faces the rotor! I've had a few customers install these backwards. (No, I promise I won't tell anyone who did this!)

The caliper stiffening bridge is held in place with a pair of 5mm bridge bolts.

The new stainless steel braided brake line is threaded into the caliper body, then connected to the chassis fitting and tightened with an 11mm flare wrench.

The stock BMW pad wear sensor fits right into a slot at the top of the new brake pad.

The brakes are bled and wheels re-installed.

We're all done! Time to button up the car, pick up the tools, and then go celebrate our success.

A relaxing lunch at Panevino Restaurant - the traditional Zeckhausen Racing post-installation hangout. They had our table waiting for us and proper beverages all laid out in advance! Yes, we've been eating here regularly for over 20 years . A great way to celebrate another big brake installation.

sf_loft commented: November 10, 2012, 1:27 pm

Purely for cosmetic reasons or are you planning to track that luxury liner? It looks great, but if you track infrequently our cars' brakes are sufficient as long as you upgrade the brake line, pads, and fluid. Cheaper alternative to entirely new kits. Brake fade usually happens when your stock lines expand, losing pressure. Getting reinforced lines is the most cost effective unless you track your car often.

IMO, you need new wheels to show off that badboy.

suneil commented: November 10, 2012, 2:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_loft

Purely for cosmetic reasons or are you planning to track that luxury liner? It looks great, but if you track infrequently our cars' brakes are sufficient as long as you upgrade the brake line, pads, and fluid. Cheaper alternative to entirely new kits. Brake fade usually happens when your stock lines expand, losing pressure. Getting reinforced lines is the most cost effective unless you track your car often.

IMO, you need new wheels to show off that badboy.

agreed...
and I wonder if you considered, OP, the M perf brake package, at $2100 for front and rear, it's pretty cheap...

Purely for cosmetic reasons or are you planning to track that luxury liner?

IMO, you need new wheels to show off that badboy.

Actually, neither. For the track, I have this:

After years of upgrading brakes on my track and street cars, I'm spoiled by the pedal feel and confidence of fixed, multi-piston calipers. By eliminating the flex of four, single-piston floaters and reducing piston area to compensate for increased rotor diameter, pedal travel is reduced. The "nothing" zone, when all you're doing is flexing calipers and lines and moving pads to close the gap while not actually braking, is almost gone. These feel great! I'm very happy with the change.

Now, if you modify the phrase "purely for cosmetic" to "cosmetic", then yes that is part of it. I like the look and I totally agree with your wheel assessment. My plan is to run these wheels through the winter, then grab a set of Sport Line wheels with summer-only tires, when the snow and ice are gone. If I can find 17" wheels that clear, I'll use them for Blizzaks the following winter and sell the Luxury Line wheels. Otherwise they will become my dedicated winter wheels.

DZeckhausen commented: November 12, 2012, 1:18 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_loft

It looks great, but if you track infrequently our cars' brakes are sufficient as long as you upgrade the brake line, pads, and fluid. Cheaper alternative to entirely new kits. Brake fade usually happens when your stock lines expand, losing pressure. Getting reinforced lines is the most cost effective unless you track your car often.

Agree with your pad and fluid comments and ONE of your comments about stainless lines. Assuming we can find race friction in D1561 (front) and D1613 (rear) pads shapes, the proper friction choices, combined with higher temperature brake fluid will make a huge difference. Even the smaller 328i rotors may have enough thermal capacity to handle moderate track use.

Stainless steel braided lines will also firm up the pedal, all else being equal. Their low cost and ease of installation makes getting them a no-brainer. However, stainless lines do not prevent brake fade.

Brake fade is not caused by stock lines expanding, causing a pressure loss. Factory lines are carefully routed so they don't come too close to rotors and are protected by rotor "dust" shields. If they were heated from within by scalding brake fluid, such that they expanded dramatically, you would have far more serious brake problems.

Fade is caused by brake fluid (or entrapped moisture) boiling in the calipers, the pad/rotor interface exceeding the pads' maximum operating temperature, or in the most extreme cases, by 1-piece rotors "coning" when they are at their hottest.

Bottom line - stainless steel braided brake lines are a good thing, but don't give them too much credit. If the brakes feel "dramatically" firmer after installing them, you probably had air in the lines that was expelled during brake bleeding after installation. And they won't stop your brakes from fading.

DZeckhausen commented: November 14, 2012, 1:30 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by namelessman

DaveZ, did u get a good trade for your E39? F30 is a perfect upgrade to E39. The F10 is too bloated for E39 owners IMO, and without active steering and dynamic handling package, F10 feels more like a E38 than a E39.

Well, that depends. I had many modifications to the 540i, which added very little value to the trade-in. I could have gone private sale, but it's like trying to sell a house with a pool. You have to find just the right buyer, and I could have easily spent 6 months and had to deal with many tire kickers. Plus, New Jersey has a tax advantage to trading in, since you only pay sales tax on the difference.

First car I ever traded in, but was glad I did. The process was painless. Funny thing is, the sales manager at BMW of Bloomfield now owns it! I'm thrilled it's found a good home.

You're absolutely right about the transition from E39 to F30 being perfect. This car is just the right size for me. Despite going from a 6-speed V8 to an 8-speed 4-cylinder, I don't feel like I'm driving an anemic car. And the gas mileage was a life-saver during the last couple weeks, following Hurricane Sandy.

DZeckhausen commented: November 14, 2012, 5:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_loft

IMO, you need new wheels to show off that badboy.

Thanks for the extra bit of motivation. I just ordered a set of these:

328i is a far cry from an anemic ride. I am very impressed BMW is willing(or forced?) to provide CA PZEV 15yr/150k, it is music to the ears of those who have experienced the multitude of "maintenance" jobs on late-model bimmers.

DZeckhausen commented: November 15, 2012, 3:33 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by namelessman

I am very impressed BMW is willing(or forced?) to provide CA PZEV 15yr/150k, it is music to the ears of those who have experienced the multitude of "maintenance" jobs on late-model bimmers.

That was news to me. Happy to hear it!

Jamesonsviggen commented: November 15, 2012, 4:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

Thanks for the extra bit of motivation. I just ordered a set of these:

The BMW F30 kits replicate the drum-in-hat design of the factory rear brake rotors, so the parking brake functions exactly as it did before the modification.

N55PR commented: November 18, 2012, 7:36 pm

Thanks

DZeckhausen commented: December 4, 2012, 4:49 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_loft

IMO, you need new wheels to show off that badboy.

The weather finally cooperated and I've swapped over to the Sport Line wheels and summer-only tires. As expected, the handling improvement is
huge - until we get the next dusting of snow. Then the "winter" all-seasons go back on. Next year, I may convert the winter wheels to full snows,
but I think I can limp along OK this winter.

The last two photos were taken Sunday by Roundel Magazine photographer Klaus Schnitzer.